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Re: Song lyrics and verb tenses

Songs are not taking grammar tests, so terms like acceptable don't apply. They can break every grammatical rule they want to, and regularly do.

One point with the present simple and continuous- we can use the present simple for short duration action as they happen, so a sports commentator may say He shoots- he scores as the person kicks the ball, so some of those like I bend in the song are fine. However, the needs of a song - the limits imposed by the tune - mean that grammar comes second, which is why they are often not a good way to study a language. Adding -ing to every verb would affect the song, so if it's easier to use the simple form to fit the tune, then that is what normally happens.

Re: Song lyrics and verb tenses

I wouldn't bother trying to analyse them grammatically. Here's a famous example from Wings' Live and Let Die:

But in this ever-changing world in which we live in

Count the number of times he uses in there. It fits the music, which is why he did it- it doesn't really matter that it is total preposition overkill- it fits and the listener gets the message. There's no condition- there a tune and a rhythm and words can be hammered, twisted, word order chopped and changed, tenses abused, unnecessary words added, etc. It's a song first and foremost. There are no conditions, no acceptable grammar rules. If it fits and makes some sense, it goes. If you use telling, it fits. If you use tell, it doesn't. That's it. It's a song.